Libya urged Niger on Saturday to extradite Moammar Gadhafi's son Saadi, saying his call for Libyans to prepare for a coming uprising threatened bilateral ties. In response, Niger pledged to tighten house surveillance of Saadi, but reiterated he could not be handed over to a state where he could face execution.

Scores of Libyan army vehicles crossed the desert frontier into Niger in what may be a bid by Muammar Gaddafi to seek refuge in a friendly African state, military sources from France and Niger told Reuters on Tuesday.

Mutinous troops led by an army major captured Niger's President Mamadou Tandja on Thursday after storming his palace in a four-hour gun battle that killed at least three soldiers, military sources said.